Debating about moving to Linux

March 30th, 2014, 21:55

I'm pretty much at the point where I've had enough of Windows. Currently looking at moving to Linux (ubuntu, Mint, Korora, or Netrunner) but I have a feeling I'll still need to keep a windows partition for gaming. How viable is it as a primary gaming platform for newer games and how well do older games work with WINE?

Same here, but not primarily for gaming. I want to use linux for programming and numerical calculations (mainly because of the free compilers and programming tools, and stability and file structure).

I will still need to use Windows for other programs (word processing, spreadsheets, gaming .. etc.) until I am comfortable with Linux, as I have not used it before (used Unix though - just shows how old I am!)

Originally Posted by greywolf00
I'm pretty much at the point where I've had enough of Windows. Currently looking at moving to Linux (ubuntu, Mint, Korora, or Netrunner) but I have a feeling I'll still need to keep a windows partition for gaming. How viable is it as a primary gaming platform for newer games and how well do older games work with WINE?

If your profile info on your GPU is correct (HD6900 series) you've actually got a chipset that works well with both the opensource drivers and AMD's propriatary catalyst. Normally I'd say that a good gaming system goes to waste if it's Linux only but as far as hardware support goes you should be more than alright.

Regarding Wine, in case you aren't aware of it, there's a database with reports on how various games worked and what one needs to do to improve that. You should check the games that interest you to have an idea of what you'll get. Keep in mind though that wine configuration has a certain learning curve, which at least I never bothered to overcome (tbh I also have the dual chipset factor to complicate things). The PlayOnLinux wrapper is a the most popular wine frontend to ease use. As far as old games are concerned Infinite Engine games worked with no fiddling whatsoever out of the box and were bug free for me.

As far as distributions go I must admit I had only passing knowledge of Korora and had not heard of Netrunner. Frankly about 4/5 distributions are mainly people applying tiny changes to the leading projects and changing the branding. I'd recommend sticking to one of the big distros as are both close to the upstreams and have the infrastructure to support to properly support their "products". Also the ease of googling an Ubuntu issue vs a 00000.1% distro cannot be overstated.

While I have no love for Canonical (or even the current product itself) I think the ecosystem that Ubuntu (and derivatives) has built and the fact that it's the first supported platform for commercial software among the distributions makes it IMO the best candidate for a newly-migrating user. The app choice you have is only rivaled by Arch and that targets a very specific niche.

Depending on how adaptable you are the Desktop Environment might be a factor in your distro choice. Generally Fedora is the GNOME distro, OpenSUSE is the KDE one and Ubuntu is a mess gateway to everything else. Keep in mind that the two main DEs do most of the technical heavy lifting and unless we're talking about a niche DE (like the ultra lightweight ones) or a rare outstanding job (Elementary Luna) since you'll be using their technologies they are also your best bet for code quality (my pet peeve with Mint).

If you go for a Ubuntu or derivatives I suggest waiting a bit until the new Long Term Support versions are out (17th of April for Ubuntu) and then sticking with them. The non-LTS versions have too much breakage to be worth it.
From what I can see there's little that Korora does that can't be achieved with a simple post-install script like Fedy. While a Fedora user I have to point that it is generally not stable enough to suggest to a migrating user.

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I'd just like to interject here and point out that I'm not going to say anything to spoil the mood, Chief. I'll just float here and watch. Don't mind me, just sitting here, floating and watching, that's me.

Yes stick with ubuntu, kubuntu or opensuse (what I use). You can try the new linux steam client and play some games (primarily indie ones) but for serious gaming keep to windows. I wouldn't suggest wine, while older games often work you will get a performance hit and it may require some fiddling.

If you only need office etc. (no gaming) then try virtualbox to host a windows installation, then you don't need to reboot each time you want to open a document…

As an office program I can recommend the package by Softmaker. I use their Textmaker for about 10 years now. It's small in size, not complicated at all - but on the other hand it doesn't have all of the complex features of bigger office packages - and fast.
And it's quite stable as well, as far as I know.

I haven't used the Linux version of that recently, but I do know the Windows version of it.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)